Template:POTD protected/2012-03-12

Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor is represented in this anonymous portrait as a young archduke. He left his native Spain in his early twenties to start his life as future King of the Romans and successor to his grandfather, Maximilian I. His older brother Charles eventually succeeded as Holy Roman Emperor, but Ferdinand inherited the Empire after Charles's death. Philip, Charles's son, eventually became King Philip II of Spain. Ferdinand ruled between 1558 and 1564, a span of nearly six years.